Thieves steal top halves of fig trees
Ms Helen Maddison standing next to the fig trees that were expertly pruned and branches stolen.
KAAPSEHOOP – A grove of fig trees on a farm between Barberton and Kaapsehoop mysteriously shrunk last Saturday night. The owner had to do a double-take when she drove past her grove the following morning and discovered that the top half of her trees had been neatly pruned and stolen.
Ms Helen Maddison had been growing the trees since 2008 and finally expected a nice harvest in the next couple of weeks. “The figs were just starting to show and now they’ve been cut off. I expected a couple of hundred off each tree,” Maddison said, motioning to the stump of a fruit-bearing branch.
Upon closer inspection, she had found that the trees had been professionally pruned, as evidenced by the cuts, and even had sealant applied to the pruned branches. According to Maddison there were no leaves or twigs lying on the grass. Everything that could possibly have fallen on the ground during the pruning process had been cleaned up.
Maddison suspected the trees had been pruned to create new fig trees as there weren’t any available in the area. She had moved with her trees several times for that exact reason.
Two years ago, when her trees had started growing nicely after the last move, Maddison started a little preserve-making business. She sells green fig preserve, lemon curd and raspberry jam at the Kaapsehoop market every Sunday. She also supports the local industry, and in addition to the jobs her small business created, she had her bottles’ labels designed and printed at Label Pro in Rocky Drift.
To provide figs for her preserves, she had been giving trees away to people who would take care of them and sell the figs to her. It is therefore a shock that someone would steal the trees, instead of just coming to ask her for a few. Because her harvest has been decimated, she now has to source figs for her products from Dullstroom or Belfast.
Maddison hopes that someone will contact her if they see new fig trees being planted so she can find out who has stolen the branches. Enquiries: Maddison on 072-212-2605.
